Adding Value through a Practical and Proactive Project Risk Management Process

Many sources predict that the coming decades will bring a level of investment in capital facilities that is larger than all investment up to this point in history. Couple this increased level of investment with the impending retirement of the highly experienced Baby Boom generation, and the potential for project problems intensifies. Hence, pursuing a proactive and practical approach to project risk management is imperative.

The Construction Industry Institute (CII) has studied risk management and the risk management process since its founding in 1983. During this time, a number of the Institute’s research investigations have shown the value of establishing risk management programs; the research has also isolated key components of the risk management process. This document integrates the knowledge learned about risk management in the past three decades at CII, presenting the accumulated research as a practical and proactive process—with associated management actions—necessary to improve risk management in any organization. To support implementation of this process, it highlights all of CII’s risk management tools. Finally, because CII researchers and non-CII researchers alike use many words to describe risk and the process of risk management, it strives to present a common set of semantics around risk management. The hope is that, with this shared lexicon, thought leaders at CII and throughout the industry will be able integrate their further efforts to improve risk management in the near future.